Opportunity and risk

Having gutted the existing Kyoto policy and pulled funding away from the development of alternatives, surely the Cons should at least be willing to put some money into one of the few environmentally-friendly developments that they're actually willing to publicly support, right? Sadly, not so much, as a Canadian ethanol innovator is looking at building in the U.S. for lack of Canadian government support:

Canada's Iogen Corp. is the best in the world at converting plant fibre into ethanol -- today's hot alternative fuel -- but the biotechnology leader could end up building its first commercial-scale operation in the United States if Ottawa doesn't match support offered by Washington...

(Iogen's) first commercial-scale plant would cost about $260-million (U.S.), and most of this would have to be borrowed if the project seeks private-sector lending.

But private-sector lenders are anxious about lending for a pioneering technology -- and require a government guarantee -- even though Canada and the United States are set to boost consumption of the biofuel. Ottawa and the provinces have agreed on a target to mandate that gasoline and diesel contain 5 per cent biofuel by 2010.

"Lenders are nervous of new technology -- mandate or no mandate. A mandate doesn't create a market for new technology. Somebody has to step up to the plate and share the risk of commercializing new technology with the private sector," Mr. Passmore said.

Note that the requested support isn't direct investment, only a guarantee against a private loan. Which means that at worst, the result could be an investment in a risk worth taking...and at best, a guarantee could wind up costing nothing while ensuring that Canada is home to an important step forward in ethanol production.

The article suggests that Iogen hasn't yet "had a chance" to discuss the matter with Harper's government. But it's hard to see how that would be the case if the Cons were giving serious attention to Iogen's efforts. It may soon be too late to enable Canada to take a lead role on greenhouse gas emissions even by the Cons' unduly narrow terms...and it'll take much more effective action than we've seen from the Con camp so far to get the job done.